Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Climate Camp: May campers enjoy a walk in the rain

The second day camp of our Climate Camp season was similar to February's camp: An adventurous weather event made the camp even more fun, as you'll see from my pictures below.

We were excited that Gabe Filippelli joined us for the morning. Gabe is professor of Earth Sciences at IUPUI, Director of their Center for Urban Health, and generally one of Indiana's best educators about climate change. He's also a great sport. He didn't even flinch when I told him that he'd be presenting in the yurt at White Pine Wilderness Academy, where Climate Camp was held.

I've seen lots of presentations by Gabe over the years, but when I told him I could set up a projector in the yurt, he declined in lieu of doing something interactive.

Gabe brought campers into an interactive game where they formed CO2 molecules.

The more CO2 in the atmosphere, the harder it is for ultraviolet radiation to escape into space. This is commonly known as the Greenhouse Effect and is key to understanding climate change.

Gabe was at camp for about two hours, answering all the questions our campers had.

At Climate Camp, we aren't just about adults teaching youth about climate change. The more the youth take over, the better. After our walk in the rain, Maddie and Iris talked about their experience at a 3 day conference in Iowa City with the Climate Reality Leadership Corps (basically, the film Inconvenient Truth-turned-slideshow).

Maddie, left, and Iris talk about some of the amazing people they met in Iowa City.

Some images from the Climate Reality slideshow, which ties carbon pollution to a warmer planet and thus, to extreme weather events.

Maddie explains this animation from Polar Bears International that indicates the rapid decline of ice in the Arctic.

Cora, another veteran Climate Camper, held a workshop on the carbon footprint of food choices:

Matt Shull owns and operates White Pine and one of his specialties is edible plants. Here he is talking about how the white pine tree has many edible parts.

This then launched our walk which quickly became a rain soaked instruction on what to eat — and what not to eat — when it comes to nature's bounty.

Amos, Ocean, Hannah eye the luscious leaves of the honeysuckle, an invasive.

There was no stopping them from exploring this puddle.

Maciah demonstrates that at Climate Camp, we enjoy nature.

Carter came well equipped.

Iris, Sam and Betsy dry out from the walk.

Thanks to a grant from Indianapolis Foundation, a CICF affiliate, we will have a series of these camps over the next few months. Next one is June 6, at White Pine again. If you want to attend, contact me via email or via this blog.